Part of the crowd assembled at Belvedere Banquets for an Elk Grove Village organized town hall meeting with Ascension Alexian Brothers executives in September. (Tom Robb/Journal photo)
Members of the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board voted 6 to 3 to allow Alexian Brothers Medical Center (ABMC) in Elk Grove Village to discontinue offering obstetrics services, instead moving those services to St. Alexius Hospital in Hoffman Estates, at a hearing at the Bolingbrook Municipal Golf Club on Tuesday (Nov. 18).
“The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board approved the certificate of exemption application to discontinue inpatient obstetrics at Ascension Alexian Brothers today at their meeting,” Ascension Illinois External Communications Senior Director Olga Solares said in a written statement. “We will move forward with the transition of inpatient obstetrics services from Ascension Alexian Brothers to Ascension St. Alexius Women and Children’s Hospital.”
Solares told the Journal & Topics that although a specific date for the transition’s completion had not yet been identified, the review board’s mandate is to see that the transition take place within the next 60 days. When that date is chosen, she said it would be widely publicized.
“We are proud of the quality of care provided at our hospitals and look forward to providing continued access to vital health services for our northwest suburban communities at our dedicated labor and delivery center of excellence,” Solares said. “With this transition, Ascension Alexian Brothers will continue its focused growth in the areas of cardiology, stroke, and spine care, remaining a vibrant community hospital for the Northwest suburbs.”
Alexian Brothers Medical Center. (Journal file photo)
Solares said everyone working in the ABMC obstetrics unit has been offered a position at St. Alexius, although not all have accepted those positions.
“Across the board, Ascension nurses fear more cuts will exacerbate the growing maternal and infant health crisis in Illinois, where the preterm birth rate was scored a D by the national advocacy group March of Dimes,” National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United said in a Monday, Nov. 17 press release.
Both the state and Elk Grove Village officials held meetings and public hearings earlier this fall, two of which were held in Elk Grove Village.
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